Page 84 of Never Flirt with a Dragon

Jasper’s hands landed on my waist, and his mind brushed mine. “Want me to give you two some space?”

“That would be good,” I agreed, biting my lip.

The situation was abnormal.

Very, very abnormal.

Jasper’s lips brushed my cheek. “I’ll head over to Eli’s place. Let me know when you want me back here.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course.” He kissed the back of my neck, too, then finally stepped out and closed the door behind him.

Vi heard it that time, and her head jerked as she looked over her shoulder.

Her eyes lit up when she saw me.

“Randa!” She abandoned the pan on the stove and booked it across the room, throwing her arms around me. I hugged her back, though I was still confused.

“What happened?”

“I quit my job.” She squeezed me tighter, then finally released me and rushed back to the stove.

“You what?”

“I quit. You know I hated it—everyone knew I hated it. And you were off at Mate Mountain having hot dragon sex, and Elodie was off on her honeymoon having equally hot dragon sex, and I just—I quit.” She dragged her hand through her hair.

It looked like she’d been doing that a lot.

I padded into the kitchen, taking in the pans and dishes full of baked goods. “So what are you doing now?”

“Oh. That.” She glanced at the dishes and grimaced, then looked back to her saucepan. “I found a new job.”

I waited.

“Elodie found out I quit and gave me her sister-in-law’s phone number. She’s your sister-in-law now too, so I figure that kind of makes us sisters, right? Anyway, she owns that coffee shop we always used to go to, and they sell candy too, right? But they want to expand into cake and stuff, and the girl who makes up their candy recipes is busy, so she doesn’t want to be in charge of that. So, they offered to pay me salary if I agreed to handle the bakery’s recipes. And here I am. Making cake.” She gestured to the dishes. “And decorating it. The recipes can’t just be good. They have to be perfect.”

I looked closer at the pans and casserole dishes, which I could now see were full of layered cake, cupcakes, and who knew what else.

“Wow,” I finally said.

“I know.” She ran her hand through her hair again. “It’s insane, right?”

“Kind of. But are you having fun?”

“I don’t know. Maybe?”

My lips curved upward slightly. “You know, it wouldn’t be bad if you got a job that’s not related to food, Vi. If you don’t like cooking professionally, that’s fine.”

“It’s not the cooking I don’t like. It’s the people. If this is the way I can make my own recipes without having to deal with customers, this is the best job for me. I think. Here, try one of these.” She grabbed a frosted cupcake off a cooling rack and put it in my hands.

The frosting was perfectly swirled, with hot pink, bright yellow, and a bit of orange. There was an embellishment on the top that looked like a bit of candied lemon or something. “It looks professional.”

“I know! I’m getting better.”

I peeled the wrapper off and took a bite, groaning at the taste. “Oh, wow,” I said around a mouthful. “That’s amazing. Strawberry and lemon?”

“Yep. I think that recipe is done,” she agreed. “It’s going to be the first one we bring out. I’m nervous. And excited. But mostly nervous. If this doesn’t pan out, I’m screwed. Especially now that I’m paying the rent on my own.”

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